#BePolite this Diwali

Thank you for showing interest in the #BePolite initiative. This initiative was started last year with the support of 141 donors, with the aim of providing Solar Powered lights to women street vendors during the festive season of Diwali. This is the link to the earlier video.

With immense support for #PoliteDiwali last year, we were able to provide 200 lights to women street vendors across Karnataka. You can view the location of all the 200 women street vendors on a interactive map by clicking here.

The primary benefits of providing these lights have been:1. Safer working environment for women vendors.2. Improved levels of Trust between customers & vendors.3. Longer working hours.4. Increase in income levels.

This year we intend to scale up to other parts of India and help lighten up the lives of at least 500 women street vendors this Diwali.

This will not be possible without your support, each and every contribution to this campaign will help us bring light into the life of a woman street vendor in India. For every INR 3000 we raise, we will be able to provide a solar lighting kit to a street vendor.

Beneficiary Women Street vendor locations will be crowd sourced and only after a process of verification the light will be handed over to the vendor.

You can start a support campaign for your School, College, Resident Welfare Association, your company or even as your City Champion!

Donated to this campaign via Paytm or bank transfer? Click here if you have not received an email confirmation from Milaap.

14th January 2019

Hello!

In this update, I would like to inform to you that we have raised donations for 25 lights so far and below is the image of the upgraded product. Based on feedback from the street vendors, the system now has 2 lights with dimming option & also a USB charging option, which means that on a cloudy day, the vendor can charge the battery through her mobile phone charger as well. This option makes the product more reliable during the monsoons. The Solar Panel Capacity has also been increased to 10w (Earlier it was 5w). Further more, the soldering between the wiring & PCB has been improved. You can find the image below....

This year's campaign has been challenging as we are trying to replicate the model in other cities, hence we are putting in efforts to set processes in place which will help people like you light up the lives of more street vendors in your city. In order to make this happen, we are currently working on a web-link which will help us crowd-source the locations of street vendors without light. The document below describes the basic guidelines on how to select eligible beneficiaries.

In the coming days, we will share the locations & images of the beneficiaries through such updates.

Until then, please do share the link to the crowd funding campaign in your networks & help reach out to more people who can support this campaign.

Wishing you & your family the very best of the festive season!

Best Regards,Aakarsh Shamanur

Hello!

In this update, I would like to inform to you that we have raised donations for 25 lights so far and below is the image of the upgraded product. Based on feedback from the street vendors, the system now has 2 lights with dimming option & also a USB charging option, which means that on a cloudy day, the vendor can charge the battery through her mobile phone charger as well. This option makes the product more reliable during the monsoons. The Solar Panel Capacity has also been increased to 10w (Earlier it was 5w). Further more, the soldering between the wiring & PCB has been improved. You can find the image below....

This year's campaign has been challenging as we are trying to replicate the model in other cities, hence we are putting in efforts to set processes in place which will help people like you light up the lives of more street vendors in your city. In order to make this happen, we are currently working on a web-link which will help us crowd-source the locations of street vendors without light. The document below describes the basic guidelines on how to select eligible beneficiaries.

In the coming days, we will share the locations & images of the beneficiaries through such updates.

Until then, please do share the link to the crowd funding campaign in your networks & help reach out to more people who can support this campaign.

Wishing you & your family the very best of the festive season!

Best Regards,Aakarsh Shamanur

15th December 2018

Hello Everyone!

Hope this update finds you well.

I would like to bring to your notice that after consulting several funders, we have decided to extend the campaign till the New Years in order to reach out to many more street vendors. Please share campaign amongst your friends & family, by do so we can light up many more lives this festive season.

How to Identify & Share the location of a street vendor:

1. Visit the location after sunset to check the current source of lighting.

If the lighting on the cart/shop is not adequate enough to carry out basic activities, then they are eligible to receive the solar light.

2. Along with basic details of the vendor, such as Name, Age & What they sell.. the exact Geo-Location(Lat-Long) needs to be sent to +91-9606677223 via WhatsApp.

3. Click photographs of the Street Vendor and Vending area after sunset(Gives an idea of the actual lighting situation at night). These need to be sent to +91-9606677223 via WhatsApp.

So far, we delivered lights to two street vendors using the above mentioned process. Since this is a reference & crowd sourced process, it helps build credibility amongst the vendor & local residents of a locality.

Based on learnings from last year, we are collecting 10% of the product cost, which is Rs.300 from the Street Vendor. This amount will be utilised towards servicing costs and more importantly it helps develop a sense of ownership & accountability.

Below are some images from N.R. Colony in Bengaluru.

By January 2nd week, we will share an updated map with all the locations of vendors whose lives have been lit up.

Wishing you & your family the very best of the festive season!

Warm Regards,Aakarsh Shamanur

Hello Everyone!

Hope this update finds you well.

I would like to bring to your notice that after consulting several funders, we have decided to extend the campaign till the New Years in order to reach out to many more street vendors. Please share campaign amongst your friends & family, by do so we can light up many more lives this festive season.

How to Identify & Share the location of a street vendor:

1. Visit the location after sunset to check the current source of lighting.

If the lighting on the cart/shop is not adequate enough to carry out basic activities, then they are eligible to receive the solar light.

2. Along with basic details of the vendor, such as Name, Age & What they sell.. the exact Geo-Location(Lat-Long) needs to be sent to +91-9606677223 via WhatsApp.

3. Click photographs of the Street Vendor and Vending area after sunset(Gives an idea of the actual lighting situation at night). These need to be sent to +91-9606677223 via WhatsApp.

So far, we delivered lights to two street vendors using the above mentioned process. Since this is a reference & crowd sourced process, it helps build credibility amongst the vendor & local residents of a locality.

Based on learnings from last year, we are collecting 10% of the product cost, which is Rs.300 from the Street Vendor. This amount will be utilised towards servicing costs and more importantly it helps develop a sense of ownership & accountability.

Below are some images from N.R. Colony in Bengaluru.

By January 2nd week, we will share an updated map with all the locations of vendors whose lives have been lit up.